Harry Reid issued a statement today proclaiming that the Senate would have an up or down vote on the resolution to stop the escalation .... and that vote will be this Saturday:

"For nearly four years, the Republican-controlled Senate stood silent on the President's flawed Iraq policies and watched as the situation deteriorated into a civil war. The American people have chosen to change course. Democrats have chosen to change course. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans have chosen obstruction. Almost every Republican who expressed concern about the escalation chose to block the Senate from debating the issue.

"Today, Democrats offered Republicans another chance for compromise, suggesting the Senate debate one resolution in favor of escalation and one resolution opposed to escalation. Once again, Senate Republicans refused.

"Democrats are determined to give our troops and the American people the debate they deserve, so the Senate will have another Iraq vote this Saturday. We will move for a clear up or down vote on the House resolution which simply calls on Congress to support the troops and opposes the escalation.

"Those Republicans who have expressed their concern over the Senate's failure to debate the war in Iraq will have another opportunity to let their actions speak louder than their words."

Can the majority of Democrats force through a vote with less than sixty votes? Does Reid now know he has enough Republicans to pass the sixty vote threshold? Is he going to just go ahead an allow a filibuster, and the media circus that would go with it?

As they say, vellllly intaeresting .....

Update: The vote will be a cloture vote. Reid is responding to a "demand" by a few Republicans that there be a vote. Some of these Senators, i.e. John Warner, are the same ones who voted against cloture last time. It appears that Reid is now definately calling a bluff. He's saying that if you want a vote, we'll have one. And this time it will be on the House version of the resolution .... a simple up/down on do you support the troops but denouce the escalation? Give em' hell Harry.